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Latvian orthography
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Latvian orthography
The modern Latvian orthography is based on Latin script adapted to phonetic principles, following the pronunciation of the language. The standard alphabet consists of 33 letters – 22 unmodified Latin letters and 11 modified by diacritics. It was developed by the Knowledge Commission of the Riga Latvian Association in 1908, and was approved the same year by the orthography commission under the leadership of Kārlis Mīlenbahs and Jānis Endzelīns. It was introduced by law from 1920 to 1922 in the Republic of Latvia.
Latvian orthography historically used a system based upon German phonetic principles, while the Latgalian dialect was written using Polish orthographic principles.
The modern Latvian standard alphabet consists of 33 letters, 22 unmodified letters of the Latin alphabet and additional 11 modified by diacritics.
The vowel letters A, E, I and U can take a macron to show length, unmodified letters being short.
The modern Latvian orthography has three modified letters with a caron (ˇ) as in the Czech orthography—Č, Š and Ž. These letters are pronounced [tʃ], [ʃ] and [ʒ], respectively.
The letters Ģ, Ķ, Ļ and Ņ are written with a cedilla or a small comma placed below (or, in the case of the lowercase g, above). They are modified (palatalized) versions of G, K, L and N and represent the sounds [ɟ], [c], [ʎ] and [ɲ] respectively.
In alphabetical sorting, the letters Č, Š, Ž, Ģ, Ķ, Ļ and Ņ are collated separately from their unmodified counterparts, but Ā, Ē, Ī, and Ū are usually collated as plain A, E, I, U.
Historically the letters CH, Ō and Ŗ were also used in the Latvian alphabet. The last of these stood for the palatalized dental trill /rʲ/ which is still used in some dialects (mainly outside Latvia) but not in the standard language, and hence the letter Ŗ was finally removed from the alphabet on 5 June 1946, when the Latvian SSR legislature passed a regulation that officially replaced it with R in print. A spelling reform replacing Ŗ with R, CH with H, and Ō with O, was enacted in 1938, but then Ŗ and CH were reinstated in 1939, Ō was reinstated in 1940, Ŗ and Ō were finally removed in 1946 and CH was finally removed in 1957.
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Latvian orthography AI simulator
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Latvian orthography
The modern Latvian orthography is based on Latin script adapted to phonetic principles, following the pronunciation of the language. The standard alphabet consists of 33 letters – 22 unmodified Latin letters and 11 modified by diacritics. It was developed by the Knowledge Commission of the Riga Latvian Association in 1908, and was approved the same year by the orthography commission under the leadership of Kārlis Mīlenbahs and Jānis Endzelīns. It was introduced by law from 1920 to 1922 in the Republic of Latvia.
Latvian orthography historically used a system based upon German phonetic principles, while the Latgalian dialect was written using Polish orthographic principles.
The modern Latvian standard alphabet consists of 33 letters, 22 unmodified letters of the Latin alphabet and additional 11 modified by diacritics.
The vowel letters A, E, I and U can take a macron to show length, unmodified letters being short.
The modern Latvian orthography has three modified letters with a caron (ˇ) as in the Czech orthography—Č, Š and Ž. These letters are pronounced [tʃ], [ʃ] and [ʒ], respectively.
The letters Ģ, Ķ, Ļ and Ņ are written with a cedilla or a small comma placed below (or, in the case of the lowercase g, above). They are modified (palatalized) versions of G, K, L and N and represent the sounds [ɟ], [c], [ʎ] and [ɲ] respectively.
In alphabetical sorting, the letters Č, Š, Ž, Ģ, Ķ, Ļ and Ņ are collated separately from their unmodified counterparts, but Ā, Ē, Ī, and Ū are usually collated as plain A, E, I, U.
Historically the letters CH, Ō and Ŗ were also used in the Latvian alphabet. The last of these stood for the palatalized dental trill /rʲ/ which is still used in some dialects (mainly outside Latvia) but not in the standard language, and hence the letter Ŗ was finally removed from the alphabet on 5 June 1946, when the Latvian SSR legislature passed a regulation that officially replaced it with R in print. A spelling reform replacing Ŗ with R, CH with H, and Ō with O, was enacted in 1938, but then Ŗ and CH were reinstated in 1939, Ō was reinstated in 1940, Ŗ and Ō were finally removed in 1946 and CH was finally removed in 1957.